12.8.04

Jody Gerut

(no the post has nothing to do with Jody Gerut. I just don't think that I've mentioned him lately. Shame.)

I went to Google and typed in "lifespan of a housefly" (because at about 5 pm I suddently NEEDED to know how long a housefly lives. There was no lead in) and my computer brought in a bunch of those popups, and one was a pseudo porn site. Or a dating site, I couldn't tell. A scantily clad woman saying "click here." How is that tied to a housefly?!? I don't get all that stuff. It's my work computer - I freaked. I'm picturing all sorts of termination notices because I wanted to know how long a housefly lives. Then again, they ever check my internet time and I'm dead anyway.

Sitting on my couch, watching TiVo Last Comic Standing (yay John Heffron), with my laptop and cat in my lap, I am content with life right now. Even though I'm tired exhausted.

I've been thinking about my work lately, when I'm not working. And I've come to the conclusion that I enjoy being this busy at work because I don't have to think about things. And I'm not even sure what I'm trying not to think about. Most of the time when people try to escape from things, there is something definable. A death. A breakup. Something. Here, not so much. As far as I can tell. And being busy means that I don't have time to think. And then I began thinking, have I always been like this? Is that why I listen to music at work? I don't want to accidentally have a moment where I'm free to think? What type of anti-self-reflective bullshit is that? And I thought, "no, I think all the time." And then I thought, "I haven't been very introspective lately at all." So my September new month's resolution is to be more introspective. (We have to start with September because you can't start a new months resolution in the middle of the month. And I have my trial starting.)

Ahh, my trial. I'm really sorry. I know that 99% of the people in the world don't give two shits about the law. And hate lawyers with a passion. But the fact is, my ENTIRE life right now is this trial. And yes, I understand how pathetic that makes me. Welcome to my world. So the junior partner - he's had some of my work for over three weeks. It hasn't made it to the senior partner yet. We're talking 5 page motions in limine. My research skills are second to none (at least I can do something right at the firm. As far as I can tell, it's the only reason they keep me around) so I know it'snot the research that he's working on. So by my thought, even if every word I wrote was awful, the research is there, and you can write a MIL in only a few hours. Why is it taking so long. How can I be THAT bad when the foundation is there? And yes, he's been editing them for weeks. I feel like such a failure. Don't get me wrong. If it's not one thing, it's another. So I'd feel like a failure anyway, it's a comfort level for me.

But I'm a demanding sort, so I brought up this concern with the senior partner today - what exactly am I doing wrong?? He said a lot of it was stylistic, that I'm on a learning curve, and that that he hopes to provide feedback when this is all over. He told me bascially what I knew - my writing overall is too informal, and that my research skills rock. He didn't say the word rock. But it as implied. Woo hoo. He was also talking to me about why women wear cleavage shirts, and how he doesn't understand it. I was a bit confused, but he REALLY meant why do they wear cleavage shirts to the workplace and how that is unprofessional. I even think he thinks less of people who wear cleavage shirts to work. I told him it was because they didn't do laundry and only had their bar shirts left. He has no problem with cleavage shirts at a bar. Sometimes, I don't think he knows how to take me. Guess he should get in line. But I might have an intellectual crush on Yoda. Then again. it's not a surprise. I also had an intellectual crush on Yoda from Star Wars, Yoda my senior high school English teacher, and Yoda my philosophy professor in college. Maybe by the time I give someone the name Yoda, I've already got the intellectual crush on them?? (For the record, not one of these individuals is attractive in the slightest. Well, Yoda from the movie kinda is.)

And going back to the first paragraph with Jody, and the above paragraph, speaking of crushes, Billy was on the radio this morning and mentioned he was performing tonight at Quaker Steak. Note I didn't go to Quaker Steak. Jen would be so disappointed. ;-) Quaker Steak is perhaps one of the best places ever. It reminds me of college. That's the old days, when it was only in Sharon PA. I still have my plastic "It's Tuesday!" cup from there. All you can eat wings. Which is cool not because you actually ate $10 of wings, but because you could get different kinds rather than being stuck with one type of wing for the rest of your stay at Quaker Steak that evening. They brought them in groups of 4, so that meant every 4 wings, you could change the type of wings. I don't like hot anything, but I loved the options. I think this goes into the entire "can't settle on one thing" problem I have. Even with wings. Yes, I have issues. Thanks for your two bit pseudo psychology. I appreciate it. Then again, I did say that I wasn't very introspective, so maybe you were just helping? Aww, thanks. That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, attempting to help me.

"It's one thing to have justice, it's another thing to go overboard with justice." Huh?? Are you kidding me? Bush is the biggest.idiot.ever.

New Jersey governor had to quit b/c he is gay. (oversimplified, perhaps, but true nonetheless). The Supreme Court of California says gay marriages are null and void. Bush wants a constitutional amendment saying marriage is only between a man and a woman. A judge in Seattle says they are legal. Massachusetts, Vermont...the Supreme Court's gotta decide this issue soon. Wonder if they'll take their recent stance of trying to avoid any controversial topics? Yet another reason why I am Bush winning will be one of the worst things ever - appointing like minded Justices. Bush just had an ad to tv, "Moving America Forward." Now I know that we say the word "nuclear" differently, but I guess we define "forward" differently as well.

4 Comments:

However, despite our apparent dependence on this medium very little attention has been paid to the long-term preservation of Web sites. Indeed, with the life of an average web site estimated to be around 44 days (about the same lifespan as a housefly) there is a danger that invaluable scholarly, cultural and scientific resources will be lost to future generations.I never thought of websites as an endangered species...

Up until now I had way too much free time to read up on all that Bush was doing to destroy our country. Prior to this summer I knew that he was, but I was too busy to figure out exactly how. Now I've had way too much time on my hands. It works me up so much that I let it get to me. Thank goodness for the someone quiting the criminal clinic which lets me take over about 6 trials. Woohoo!

My favorite job at IP was during shutdown (plant stops operating for 2 weeks so we can do maintenance and install new parts on machines that normally run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, even through Christmas) where I supervised crews cleaning out our tanks. For 12 hours I was on my feet running running running. At the end of the day, I went home with nothing on my shoulders and knowing that whatever came up the next day would be handled then. It’s been much like that for me with the new quality position. Despite 12 – 14 hour days (normal for you, but not for me, and for which I most definitely do not get paid enough), I am thoroughly enjoying myself. . . I think there is satisfaction in just working your ass off. It’s like hitting your stride when you are running, where everything is clicking, you couldn’t possibly run any faster or harder, and just the sheer movement of your body is joy. . .

Not that I'm a lawyer or anything, but I predict that SCOTUS will address the gay marriage debate by decreeing that one of the grooms' middle initials is incorrect, so they have no jurisdiction. Or something like that. I know I'm being irreverent, but it seems that they do take on some of the tough "issue" cases, only to nullify them with some irrelevant detail or another. It's disappointing, more so than if they actually gave a substantive ruling with which I disagreed.